Difference between revisions of "Team:NAIT Edmonton/Safety"

As part of our institution's guidelines, it is mandatory for every student to take the Safety Course organized by the department's Safety Committee. In addition, all team members received the standard lab training from our supervisors.

The topics taught ranged from personal protection such as appropriate clothing when working in the lab, which includes wearing a lab coat, gloves, goggles, no contact lenses, long trousers and appropriate shoes, to general lab rules like no food and drinks (also no storage in lab fridges) and no smoking. Further topics included maintenance of a clean workspace, correct labeling and storage of chemicals and biological substances, and instructions on transportation of chemicals and solvents in the building (not in the passenger elevator but in the freight elevator and the usage of correct chemical container in a bucket).

We were also instructed to take extra measures when working with flammable substances (especially ethanol) and people with long hair were instructed to tie their hair back when working with a flame. We also received detailed instructions on handling substances with known dangers such as acids, bases, methanol, ethidium bromide, ethers, or ethanol, and the use of safety tools such as eye shower and fume hoods were introduced.

Furthermore we were instructed how to react in case of emergencies such as fire or accidents. We discussed different scenarios and correct behavior. Important phone numbers and contact persons were introduced. We learnt how to treat people with minor injuries such as cuts or burns. The importance of seeing a physician after an incident was emphasized.

Risks to the safety and health of team members, or other people working in the lab

According to the WHO bio-safety manuscript and the applicable national rules, the organisms used by our team belong to the category of Risk Level 1. Organisms of this level are considered as unlikely to cause human or animal disease.

Since all strains used and all those which are intended to be used in the future are harmless in terms of pathogenicity and toxicity, these organisms or biological parts do not raise major safety concerns. The work in the wet-lab is carried out in a S1 laboratory with conventional safety standards. Regular safety precautions such as wearing gloves, glasses and a lab coat to protect us are implemented. No bacteria are released into the environment and all material contaminated with bacteria was autoclaved at 120 degrees Celsius and 1 bar overpressure. All chemicals used for the project were collected and disposed separately.

All experiments involving live bacteria were conducted in an environment designed to contain bacteria. Therefore, there is no direct contact with the environment outside the laboratory and therefore, together with the fact that the involved bacteria are of biosafety level 1, our project provides no remarkable risk to the general public. Since all team members are following Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), we are working on a good basis to prevent the unintended release and spread of bacterial cultures. Safety measures like autoclaving and protective equipment will mitigate the risks to the environment.